The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-10-31
| kA DpEA LETTER "a ME Es,
|, A, ThunsT0N, MIhis'
nE lATERI1H,

G3lft l--Oh lllS avn " OStNppA
last, report was addressed to Your
Excellency by the Inspector-Gen-
eral of immigration, which was sub
sequently published by the "IIa-
waiian Gazette. ~ AS this report
deals with our Portuguese colony,
which have the honor of represent
ing and defending, hope Your Ex-
cellency will excuse me for submit
ting to you the results of my ex-
animation of the said report.
read it unsuspectingly up to a
point in which Akina and Aseu,
Chinese planters on Hawaii, who
employ some 65 Chinese and ID
Hawaiian workmen, are repre-
sented as prefering the Japanese
- as laborers. Knowing, as every
body does, the innate antipathy of
Chinese against japanese, l could
not repress my admiration { that
these Chinese planters should openly
repudiate their own countrymen for
an hostile nationality, which they
do not even employ.
| was then further surprised to
find several planters named, as pre-
fering japanese laborers, who do
not and have never employed that
nationality, and thence l was GU
rious to see if altogether the in
formation officially given by the In
spector-G General of Immigration did,
or not, agree with what l can prove
on the subject. Here is, Mr.. Min
lister, the result of my confronta-
ton.
Whilst the Inspector-General
claims to have visited 81 planta-
tons, out of which he asserts that
23 prefer japanese, II prefer Por-
tuguese, / prefer Chinese, II per-
fer Chinese and Portuguese, 2 Japa-
nese and Portuguese.
| have information of same date
from 67 plantations, out of which o
prefer native Hawaiians, 10 prefer
Chinese, 22 prefer Portuguese, D
prefer natives first, then Portuguese,
3 prefer Portuguese and natives, 6
prefer Chinese and Portuguese, 3
prefer Portuguese and Chinese, l
prefers Chinese, native and Portu-
guese, prefer Portuguese and
japanese, l prefers Chinese and
japanese, are Indifferent to ma
tionality, 5 do not give their pre-
ference.
Further by comparing notes, l
found that, out of the % plantations
which are counted by the Inspector
General, as prefering japanese, 2
have notified me of their prefering
Portuguese, 2 prefer natives and
Portuguese, l Portuguese and
natives, 2 Portuguese and Chinese,
2 are Indifferent, 3 L can doubt of
their liking japanese at all and only
3 do really mention japanese, viz:
2 Portuguese and japanese and l
Chinese and japanese. From the
other l have no information. OF
course the opinion of planters may
change at any time, it may vary
according to the different kinds of
work, or may occasionally depend
on an attack of dyspepsia or tenn
porary bad hamor; but such changes
can only be individual, whilst the
great discrepancy between the re-
ports general figures and mine, shows
that there is something incompati-
BILE in the way the evidence has been
made use of. Now Mr.. Minister,
you will please notice, from the
above statement of mine, based on
data which l am willing to commune
cate to Your Excellency, that:
1st The great majority of planters
are plainly in favor of Portuguese
laborers, either over and above all
other mentioned nationalities, or in
connection with either native or
Chinese labor, whilst only few
decidedly prefer Chinese or natives;
2nd Only 3, in my list manifest
any preference for japanese, and
this only secondarily to Portuguese
or Chinese, whilst / can also show
proofs that some planters condemn
the japanese immigration alto
gether, saying that it has brought
the "worst labor ever imported
here or else that Japanese are
dear at SIS a month-l0 dollars
being all what they are WORTH"
whilst Portuguese readily command
from 20 to 30 dollars.
From these facts l deduce:
1st That the Inspector-General of
immigration may be suspected of
having tried to swell to the utmost
the number of planters favorable to
Japanese, or of having unconsciously
weighed their opinions through the
magnifying lenses of his own pre-
ferences.
End That his assertion, viz: "that
the Japanese are evidently growing
in favor for general work with the
planters" is most positively in
correct;
3rd That it is further absolutely
untrue that the general opinion is
that the japanese are the best
class CD of immigrant laborers,
and next TO them the Portu-
guese." CD
Such fanciful assertions, outside
of their inaccuracy, throw such a
slur on the Portuguese colony that
I cannot permit them to pass un-
challenged, and all the more so, that